I own a lot of cook books because I love to cook. Don't like to bake, don't have the patience for it. And all the mess with flower, no thanks. Almost every week I'll put new recipes on the table and I will cook at least 2x per week vgetarian, because of the animals.

Ik merk dat ik het liefst zelf kookboeken koop want dat luistert heel nauw op een of andere manier. De foto's moeten me aanspreken en de recepten moeten makkelijk zijn en ik wil niet allerlei ingrediënten in huis hoeven halen die ik verder nooit gebruik. Het is een gevoel wat ik met zo'n boek heb en dat is voor een ander moeilijk in te schatten is me inmiddels duidelijk geworden. I have noticed that I rather buy my own cooking books instead of getting them from someone. The pictures have to be attractive, the recipes have to be easy and I don't want to have to buy all kind of ingrediënts I never use. It's a feeling I have with a book which is hard for someone else to define I've noticed.

Oké, zit je klaar? Dit heb je nodig.Oké, ready to start? This is what you need.

Zonder koffie lukt het niet hoor!

It won't work without a cup of coffee!

We doen maar 1x per week boodschappen op zaterdag, dus ik begin met alle dagen op te schrijven. Vervolgens kijk ik in mijn agenda wie er op welke dag niet is. Nick is weer tijdelijk hier in huis tot hij op reis gaat.We only do groceries once a week on saturday, so I start with writing down the days of the week. Next I look in the agenda who isn't there on which day. Nick lives here temporary again until he is going to travel.

Eerst even kijken of er nog leftover maaltijden in de vriezer zitten die we kunnen gebruiken.

First lets take a look if there are any left over meals in the freezer we can use.

Yep, found something and we will eat that on a busy day. Took some cookbooks and looked for recipes and this will be it. Ooo, now I realise the menu is in Dutch. But it isn't about the actual menu it is about the system so it doesn't matter right?

When I need to take something out of the freezer the day before I write that with red and arrows. Otherwise I won't see it and I will forget it. Menu is on the fridge. Sunday I'm gonna be working late so Steve will cook and I can just sit down to the table. He decides what he will cook. Towards the end of the week I'll make sure it is a recipe that doesn't require fresh vegetables. If I do need them Steve will pick it up during the week when he goes out of the office for lunch. The boeuf on wednesday is from the freezer and I only need to boil potatoes with that.

Dinsdag eten we uit het paddenstoelenboek van Carluccio. Ik schrijf het boek en de pagina achter de recepten anders zoek ik me een ongeluk op de dag zelf.Tuesday we will eat from the mushroom book of Carluccio. I write the book and page behind the recipe otherwise I will be looking forever on the cooking day.

I always write my opinion in the book and if there is something I want to add or change. Good for a next time. My neice gives her recipes grades, also handy. This was tuesdays recipe and the next one is fridays.

Bill Granger is always on the Dutch cooking channel and I love his show. I taped them all and when I can't sleep I'll watch him. That doesn't really sound like a compliment, does it? I find him so relaxed and he lived in a beautiful home in Australia and has the cutest little girls. He lives in the U.K. now and I'm waiting desperately for new episodes!

We gaan naar de boodschappenlijst. Ik heb twee kanten. Een hier in de buurt, de Deka en de slager en eventueel de poelier. Dat doet Steve terwijl ik de honden uitlaat. Ik schrijf niet alles op omdat hij zelf weet hoeveel melk en dat soort dingen gehaald moeten worden.Let's go to the shopping list. It has two sites, the groceries in the neighbourhood will Steve do while I'll walk the dogs. I don't write every single thing down because some things are the same every week and he knows them.

De achterkant bevat de boodschappen uit de stad. We gaan altijd eerst naar de Natuurwinkel in Overveen en rijden dan door naar Haarlem. Mabrouk is een Marokkaanse groenteboer en Marqt een heerlijke supermarkt met veel biologische spullen. Ik koop zoveel mogelijk alles biologisch.The backsite are the groceries we get in the city. First we will go to Overveen ( a village) to the organic store and then we will go to Haarlem ( = a city) to a Moroccan grocerie store and to a kind of a Whole Food Store. I am into organic.

That was it. This works for me. One time a week I'm busy making the list and sometimes it takes a while because I'm looking up new recipes. You can also keep it simple so you are done much quicker. I don't need to think about anything anymore the rest of the week, only if I need to take something out of the freezer. I love it. For other people it doesn't work because they don't feel like eating spaghetti for example on the day it was planned. I only make dinners I love and which day I eat themdoesn't matter to me. Hope I gave you some ideas!